Mortality is often misconstrued as solely representing physical death. However, mortality, as it pertains to the human condition, is so much more. It also relates to spiritual and emotional death, as well as experiential death. Throughout someone’s life, they will be forced into new situations. For example, a college student who has just graduated is forced to enter the world of employment. Experiential death is a person’s ability to let go of the past and accept your present circumstances. This is intrinsic for someone’s natural growth. If one is unable to let go of the past, they often end up unable to find any sort of desire to move toward the future. Not only is experiential death necessary for natural progression through life, it is mandatory for someone who wishes to live a healthy life. Someone with a very unhealthy habit, i.e. alcoholics, drug addicts, etc., must completely remove themselves from that part of their life, or they will end up destroying their own lives. This is described very well in The Dhammapada. The buddhist text claims “As a tree, even though it has been cut down, is firm so long as its root is safe, and grows again, thus, unless the feeders of thirst are destroyed.” In the text, the tree is used as a metaphor for an individual's sorrow and the roots are the cause of the sorrow. Until someone completely destroys the roots of their problems, they cannot truly be happy and cannot
Mortality is often misconstrued as solely representing physical death. However, mortality, as it pertains to the human condition, is so much more. It also relates to spiritual and emotional death, as well as experiential death. Throughout someone’s life, they will be forced into new situations. For example, a college student who has just graduated is forced to enter the world of employment. Experiential death is a person’s ability to let go of the past and accept your present circumstances. This is intrinsic for someone’s natural growth. If one is unable to let go of the past, they often end up unable to find any sort of desire to move toward the future. Not only is experiential death necessary for natural progression through life, it is mandatory for someone who wishes to live a healthy life. Someone with a very unhealthy habit, i.e. alcoholics, drug addicts, etc., must completely remove themselves from that part of their life, or they will end up destroying their own lives. This is described very well in The Dhammapada. The buddhist text claims “As a tree, even though it has been cut down, is firm so long as its root is safe, and grows again, thus, unless the feeders of thirst are destroyed.” In the text, the tree is used as a metaphor for an individual's sorrow and the roots are the cause of the sorrow. Until someone completely destroys the roots of their problems, they cannot truly be happy and cannot